IC Inbox

[armoured]

This is the IC inbox for Alphonse Elric at Snowblind.

Network name: @LELRIC

This is the place to contact Al over the Network. Contact by voice, text, or video is all perfectly acceptable, and there is no need to plot with me prior to posting in this inbox.

Comments

[armoured]

R-Right.

[He chuckles a little nervously.]

I sometimes forget that I can look scary, but I promise that just because I'm big it doesn't mean I'm bad.

[motherserpent]

[She has to chuckle at that.]

I didn't think you were. Not after that. You ever think you might look less scary without the spiky helmet, though?

[armoured]

Yeah, but it's part of the armour so I can't just get rid of it.

[Saying nothing about it being his actual head.]

[motherserpent]

Right. Right, I guess...I guess if I had armor I might not want to take it off here, either. Except maybe sometimes if I was meeting new people, maybe?

[Look, she really did call to say thank you, but you're really weird, Al.]

[armoured]

I can't.

[He doesn't want her to think he's rude, and she obviously does.]

It, uh, it's frozen to the top part, I can't take it off at all.

[motherserpent]

Oh man, I'm sorry. That must really suck; I mean, I bet that makes it hard to eat and...blow your nose and stuff.

[Seriously dude what is your deal for real?]

[armoured]

I can push food through the faceplate at the front.

[This is getting way too absurd now, he needs to change the subject before it becomes wholly unbelievable.]

Um, what about your nose? It was broken when I pulled you out, is it okay now?

[motherserpent]

[TOO LATE, AL. She does her best to suppress the little snort of disbelieving laughter; really, she does.]

My--oh! Really fucking weird story, actually. It just...healed? Like inside a couple hours after we got out of there? It's like it never happened except for the bloodstains.

[armoured]

[Damn it. He hears that stifled laughter, but he's going to pretend he doesn't so that he can move on.]

That's a relief, I was really worried that I'd properly hurt you in bringing you out.

[motherserpent]

I mean...it was a lot better than staying down there. Would've been even if I kept the broken nose.

[armoured]

I guess that's true, do you-- do you remember much about what happened down there?

[Some people he's spoken to have remembered more than others.]

[motherserpent]

The first day, yeah. Some of the second. None of the stuff that happened at night.

[armoured]

That sounds like it might be a good thing, there's probably nothing that you want to remember in that time.

[Only nightmare fuel and the lies of the town.]

[motherserpent]

I dunno. I know I'd regret it, but I kind of want to know anyway. Like that one guy whose finger got eaten...I don't even know for sure that it wasn't me that did that.

[armoured]

It's probably better to believe it wasn't you, than know for sure that it was.

[He certainly wouldn't want to remember being controlled to eat someone's finger.]

[motherserpent]

Maybe.

[She sounds unconvinced.]

But it'd be even better to know it wasn't me.

[armoured]

And what if you find out that it was?

[He's not saying that it was, odds are good that it wasn't, but what if?]

[motherserpent]

I dunno. Probably throw up a lot?

[armoured]

Miss Tess...

[He hesitates, but this is doing nobody any good.]

You can't dwell on this, we have to keep moving or the town wins. It's okay not to know everything, just promise yourself that if something did happen then you'll do your best not to let it happen again.

[motherserpent]

[It's okay not to know everything. Logically she knows that, logically she agrees. She's always been too curious, though, and for some reason it's harder than ever to let go of that since she woke up in the hospital here.]

...Yeah. Yeah, I know. We gotta just...keep moving, I guess.

[armoured]

It's the only way.

[His voice is a mixture of sympathy and determination.]

We can cry for all that's happened, and demand all the details, after.

[motherserpent]

But what if we never find anyone we can demand them from?

[armoured]

We will.

[He sounds as if he believes it's just that simple.]

You really think nobody would be guarding the way out?

[motherserpent]

No one's been guarding anything else. We never even saw that Robert Miller guy.

[armoured]

But it's the way out, it would ruin all their work if we were to reach it, somebody has to be guarding it.